Service history

Florence Nightingale sailed from
Norfolk on 23
October 1942 in the task force bound for the invasion of North
Africa, and between 8–15 November lay off Port Lyautey, Morocco, landing
troops and cargo.Returning to Norfolk on 30 November, she made
two voyages to Algeria, carrying
reinforcements and cargo out, and prisoners of war back, returning
to New York from the second, on 11 March 1943.After brief overhaul
and exercising in Chesapeake Bay,
Florence Nightingale sailed from Norfolk on 8 June with
troops for the invasion of Sicily, landing them through hazardous
surf conditions at Scoglitti from 10–12 July.

Returning
to New York on 3 August 1943, Florence Nightingale voyaged
to Oran in September, and on 8 October sailed from New York
for Belfast, Northern
Ireland.She carried men from Glasgow, Scotland, to Iceland, before
returning to Boston on 17
November to load for the first of two transport voyages to the
Firth of
Clyde, Scotland, from New York.Laden with soldiers
and nurses, she sailed from New York on 27 February 1944 for
Cardiff, where she
landed her original passengers, then sailed to Belfast to embark
soldiers for the Mediterranean Sea.From 21 March, she carried troops among
Mediterranean bases, and took part in landing operations in
preparation for the invasion of southern France, for which she
sortied from Naples on 13
August. She landed her troops in the initial assault on 15
August, and returned with casualties to Naples three days later.
Until 25 October, when she sailed for home, Florence
Nightingale brought reinforcements from Oran to the fighting
in southern France.

Overhauled
at New York from 8 November–18 December, Florence
Nightingale loaded Marines at Norfolk, and with them arrived
at Pearl
Harbor on 10 January 1945.Here she debarked the
Marines and loaded soldiers and Army equipment for the Marianas.She sailed among these islands, transporting
casualties, mail, and cargo to Guam, made one
cargo voyage to Ulithi, and
returned to Pearl Harbor on 22 March.On 7 April, again
troop laden, she got underway for Okinawa, off which she lay to discharge reinforcements from
3–8 May, undergoing many air raids but suffering no
damage.

The transport reached San Francisco from action waters on 27 May
1945, and sailed 11 days later to carry men of naval construction battalions and their equipment to
Okinawa. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 20 August to
begin occupation transport duty, which found her calling at
Eniwetok and Yokosuka before her return to Portland,
Oregon, on 15 November.

Between
13 December and 16 February 1946, she again voyaged to the Far East, carrying occupation troops to Korea, and
returning to Long Beach, California, with servicemen eligible for discharge.At Long
Beach she loaded German prisoners of
war, with whom she sailed for Liverpool, England, on 26 February.Landing the
homeward-bound Germans in England for further transfer,
Florence Nightingale embarked troops at Le Havre for transportation to New York City, where she docked on 8 April 1946. The
transport was decommissioned on 1 May 1946 and transferred to the
War Shipping
Administration the same day.

Florence Nightingale received four battle stars for World War II service.